THE ICEMEN COMETH

The arena the team will skate in has yet to be built, its name is not official and the squad does not take the ice until 1999. Those minor details, however, did not stop the Atlanta Hockey Club from selecting Tausche Martin Lonsdorf in Atlanta to handle its advertising. Earlier this year, the National Hockey League awarded Ted Turner and Time Warner rights for an expansion franchise that will begin play in a new building in two years. The team is expected to be called the Thrashers, after the state bird of Georgia, but for now the client is referring to itself as the Atlanta Hockey Club. TML will be expected to pitch in where needed after its first shift of drumming up season ticket sales for the fledgling AHC. "We wanted an agency [which] could help us create more than just initial excitement," said team president Harvey Schiller. Account billings were not disclosed. This is Atlanta's third brush with professional hockey. It had an NHL team in the 1960s and '70s, and more recently hosted an International Hockey League franchise. Both squads eventually skated off to greener pastures. --Jim Osterman

The arena the team will skate in has yet to be built, its name is not official and the squad does not take the ice until 1999. Those minor details, however, did not stop the Atlanta Hockey Club from selecting Tausche Martin Lonsdorf in Atlanta to handle its advertising. Earlier this year, the National Hockey League awarded Ted Turner and Time Warner rights for an expansion franchise that will begin play in a new building in two years. The team is expected to be called the Thrashers, after the state bird of Georgia, but for now the client is referring to itself as the Atlanta Hockey Club. TML will be expected to pitch in where needed after its first shift of drumming up season ticket sales for the fledgling AHC. "We wanted an agency [which] could help us create more than just initial excitement," said team president Harvey Schiller. Account billings were not disclosed. This is Atlanta's third brush with professional hockey. It had an NHL team in the 1960s and '70s, and more recently hosted an International Hockey League franchise. Both squads eventually skated off to greener pastures. --Jim Osterman